What are some features of the basic education curriculum in the Philippines?

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The basic education curriculum in the Philippines contains mother tongue-based multilingual education, universal kindergarten, college and livelihood readiness and specialized upper secondary education. The curriculum also features spiral progression and contextualization and enhancement, which helps make the curriculum more relevant to the students.

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The education curriculum in the Philippines places an emphasis on secondary education by establishing a core curriculum in seven learning areas, such as mathematics, natural sciences and social sciences. The curriculum also allows seniors to chose a specialization in one of three tracks based on their individual interests. The three possible tracks are academic, technical-vocational-livelihood, and sports and arts. These features help prepare students to compete on a global level and prepare for college.

The mother tongue-based multilingual education feature places emphasis on children learning in their native language. There are 12 mother tongue languages considered in the curriculum including Tagalog, Meranao, Bikol, Bahasa Sug and Maguindanaoan. Starting in Grade 1, children also learn English and Filipino.

The basic curriculum provides access to universal kindergarten, where children learn the alphabet, numbers, shapes and colors in their native language. According to research, children who attended kindergarten were better prepared for primary school.

The curriculum also features an attempt to make the curriculum more relevant to the students by providing illustrations, poems, stories and other activities based on local culture, history and reality.